The View's Better Up There
by Dracoisalooker76
Summary: SONGFIC It's back up after some repairs and you can read it. Anyway, it's about Chad's feelings towards Troy's sudden death and how he reacts to a new kid that reminds him of Troy.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**This is back up after the words got screwed up! Hope you can read it now!**

**Okay, this is just something I thought of. It's kind of long, but...hopefully you'll still like it. It's to the song View from Heaven by Yellowcard.**

**The View's Better Up There**

Chad walked into the waiting room in the hospital seeing a bunch of familiar faces.. He didn't know what happened. Taylor had called, she said to hurry, that there was an accident. He couldn't understand the rest of what she said because she was sobbing.

He looked around. Zeke and Ryan was comforting Sharpay, who had softened and become more likable after she started dating Zeke. Jason held a sobbing Kelsi in one of the chairs. Taylor's face was in her hands, her elbows on her knees as she sat next to Pilar Montez, Gabriella's fourteen year old sister.

Coach Bolton was hitting his head lightly off a wall and Troy's mother Emily was trying to stop him. Ana Montez, Gabriella's mother was sitting in the corner, tear stains marking her face. He saw Jason's dad and Zeke's mother. His parents had walked over to Jack and Emily. Taylor's mother was talking to Ana. He took a breath, the only people not in the room were Troy and Gabriella.

And then it hit him, something had happened to them. He walked over to Taylor and sat down in the vacant chair beside her. Pilar stood up to go get a drink leaving them to talk. "What happened," Chad asked.

Taylor tried, but Chad could see she couldn't talk. Every time she attempted to say something, nothing came out of her mouth, but more tears rolled down her face. He noticed Zeke hand Sharpay to Ryan, staring at Chad. He nodded, knowing Zeke was going to tell him. He gently kissed the top of Taylor's head and walked to Zeke.

"Are they alright?"

"How much do you know," Zeke asked.

"Nothing. It's Troy and Gabriella right?"

Zeke nodded. "They got in an accident. A drunk hit the driver's side, Troy's side. Gabriella just went up for more surgery, they don't know if she'll ever walk again if she wakes up. She's in a coma I think."

"What about Troy?" Zeke looked to the ground and started scuffing the perfect hospital floor. "God damn it Zeke, tell me!"

Zeke's eyes were flooding with tears. "Troy's gone Chad. He was barely alive." Chad turned around but Zeke's words drifted into his ears. "There was nothing they could do. He was brain dead and he couldn't breath on his own; he was alive on machines. Once they took him off his heart stopped."

Chad turned to face Zeke. "What did he look like? Did you see him?"

Zeke shook his head. "Troy's mom could hardly stay in there. Coach said he looked...that you could hardly recognize him. Man, I'm sorry."

He couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead. Troy. Tears stung his eyes. He looked to Taylor, she was talking to Sharpay. Taylor, Gabriella, Sharpay and Kelsi had become friend, but none them had the friendship that Taylor and Gabriella shared. Taylor and Gabriella were like sisters, like Troy and Chad were brothers.

"Gabriella," Chad said. He looked to Zeke. "Gabriella, there's still hope for her right?"

Zeke shrugged. "Everyday she stays asleep, the less of a chance that she'll wake up."

"But there is a chance-"

"Chad," Zeke interrupted. "There's a chance for everything, even Troy waking up, if you live in a fairy tale world. Right now, you need to face facts. There's a small, very small chance that she'll wake up and we've got to deal with it. I know its hard because we just lost Troy, and the thought of losing Gabriella is making it worse, but you can't-"

"I can believe, can't I?"

Zeke nodded, "just as long as you're prepared."

_**I'm just so tired**_  
_**Won't you sing me to sleep**_  
_**Fly through my dreams**_  
_**So I can hitch a ride **_  
_**With you tonight**_  
_**And get away from this place**_  
_**Have a new name and face**_  
_**I just ain't the same without you in my life**_

"Chad." He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into the face of his father. "Jack and Emily want to know if you want to say goodbye to Troy before they take him to the morgue."

Chad nodded, tears rolling down his face. His father led him to Troy's room. He walked in, it seemed cold but it was probably just his imagination. Zeke and Jason had already come in, Chad was the last. He touched the curtain that separated Troy's area from the room, shut his eyes and gulped. After he opened them, he pulled the curtain enough to get in and stood stone still at the foot of Troy's bed.

His face was scratched, bloody and bruised. It had lost it's boyish glow and the rest of his body was covered by a blanket. Chad had never seen Troy so dirty in his whole life. He felt his heart beat increase looking at the lifeless body of his once exuberant and fun loving friend.

He sat down in a chair that was located next to the bed. "Hey Troy," he said. "You're a mess. The only time I've seen you even comparable to this was in pre-school. Remember?"

Troy didn't answer. Chad felt rage fill his body. 'He'll never answer again,' he thought.

"Troy, I just have one question. Are you going to take Gabriella with you? Because, if you are, could you do it quick? Everyone's mourning you and hoping for Gabriella, so if she's not going to make it, do you think we could get it over with?"

Chad rolled the sheet down and grabbed Troy's cold hand. "I hope the view's better there. Come visit me, okay? I..." His expression changed; his eyes narrowed. "I hate the person who did this to you."

"You know," he added. "Everyone told me this how I can say goodbye, but...I'll never be able to say goodbye because you're never going to hear me. So, I'll say goodbye to your body."

_**Late night drives**_  
_**All alone in my car**_  
_**I can't help but start**_  
_**Singing lines **_  
_**From all our favorite songs**_  
_**And melodies in the air**_  
_**Singing, life just ain't fair **_  
_**Sometimes I still just can't**_  
_**Believe you're gone**_

Chad started his car for the first time in a week. Gabriella woken up while Chad had been saying goodbye to Troy's body. 'I guess you wanted Gabriella to live,' Chad thought as he press a button to start his car's c-d player. Music blasted from the speakers and his eyes widened. He pressed eject and pulled out the c-d.

_Troy's Favs _was written on it. Tears fell down his face. He was going to give it back the next day at school because he had borrowed it. Now, he could never return it to it's rightful owner.

He stepped of his car and snapped the c-d in half. He threw the pieces on the ground and ran to his car, needing to get away. He knew that he shouldn't have been driving, that his Troy's death still lingered in his mind from the day he saw his best friend laying on a bed with a sheet over him.

As he drove past East High, he started to sing Breaking Free. Tears started to ruin his vision and he debated driving and maybe crashing because he couldn't see, but he stopped the car. He hit his head off the steering wheel before jumping out of his car and looking up at the stars.

"Why won't you get out of my head," he yelled. He collapsed on the ground, his body shaking with sobs. "Troy, why did you go! Why are you gone?"

_**And I'm sure the view from Heaven**_  
_**Beats the hell out of mine here**_  
_**And if we all believe in Heaven**_  
_**Maybe we'll make it through**_  
_**One more year, down here**_

Chad walked down the halls of East High, trying to ignore the sympathetic looks. People had given him cards, telling him that Troy would be remembered, that he would never be forgotten. But, not a single person in that school (except Jason, Zeke and himself) could tell you that Troy's favorite color was yellow, or that he hated pickles. Even Jason and Zeke couldn't tell you that every night before bed Troy would read Solomon Grundy, his favorite nursery rhyme.

That's what made Chad angry. People thought they knew him, but they didn't. They thought that Troy was just another basketball player, but he wasn't. They thought his favorite color had to be red and his second favorite color was white. That he needed to hate blue and gold because those were the rival school's colors.

Every class he went to, the teacher would tell him that he was sorry about Troy. Chad would smile politely and sit in his regular seat, behind the now vacant seat. Tears would flood his eyes and try to escape, but he would keep them in his eyes.

_**Feel your fire, when it's cold in my heart**_  
_**And things sorta start reminding me**_  
_**Of my last night with you**_  
_**I only need one more day**_  
_**Just one more chance to say**_  
_**I wish that I had gone up with you too**_

Everywhere he looked, it seemed there was a group of boys that reminded him of Troy, Jason, Zeke and himself in lower grades. One day about a month after Troy's death, Jason said "Chad, what's wrong," and Chad broke down.

"_Troy, don't go!"_

"_Chad," Troy said. "What's wrong?"_

"_I feel like I'm losing my best friend."_

"_You're not losing him. You're stuck with me," Troy said. "I got to go, Gabriella's waiting."_

Chad blinked back tears. That had been the last time he had seen Troy alive. "Chad, we know you miss him."

"I wish I was with him."

"You will be," Zeke said. "He's waiting for you."

_**And I'm sure the view from Heaven**_  
_**Beats the hell out of mine here**_  
_**And if we all believe in Heaven**_  
_**Maybe we'll make it through**_  
_**One more year, down here**_

The crowd of students parted as Chad walked down the hall. Their heads bowed and they fell silent. Chad hated when they did that, so he quickened his pace. Seeing Jason and Zeke at the end of the hall he started to run.

When he got closer he noticed they were talking to a boy. He had a green track jacket on and jeans. His hair was brown with blond streaks that was somewhat long. Chad squinted, not believing what he was seeing. "Troy," he asked.

Zeke and Jason heard Chad's small voice and looked at each other in horror. "This can't be good," Zeke told Jason before grabbing Chad.

"Look Zeke! It's Troy!"

There was a crowd forming, trying their best to look on but not look nosy. Zeke glared at them before turning to Chad. "No," he said firmly.

"Yes. How can it not be, look at him!"

"Chad, that's not Troy!"

"Yes it is," Chad screamed, trying to wiggle his way out of Zeke's grasp.

"Troy is dead," Zeke yelled. "That's a new kid. He plays basketball, but other than that he's not like Troy."

Tears were streaming down Chad's face as he looked to Jason and the new kid. He looked like Troy, exactly like Troy. They could be twins, right down the blue eyes. Chad sank down to the ground.

"His name is Devon, Chad. It's not Troy."

Chad started to breath heavy and he shut his eyes. "What if, maybe the guy they thought was Troy was the drunk guy that hit them and," he turned to the new kid. "Have you been in an accident lately?"

"Dude, I just moved here from California."

"Troy was born in California, don't you see the resemblance? The guy we buried was the drunk guy!"

"Chad," Zeke yelled. "Get a hold of yourself."

He shook his head. "That's Troy!"

"Jason, help me get him down to Coach. Maybe he can help."

"Is he crazy," Devon asked.

Jason glared at him before helping Zeke pick Chad up from the ground. Ryan walked up to see what was happening with Sharpay right behind him. Tears stung her eyes seeing Chad like that.

"Is he crazy," Devon asked again. Sharpay slapped him in the face before running off. "What did I say?"

Ryan looked at him disgusted. "His best friend just died."

_**You won't be coming back **_  
_**And I didn't get to say goodbye**_  
_**I really wish I got to say goodbye**_

Zeke and Jason sat in homeroom looking at Troy's old seat. Chad had stared at it, memorizing it. Devon walked in and gave Ms. Darbus his note. She nodded, not looking up from the work she was doing. "Let me call the janitor so he can get you a chair."

"What, there's an empty one right there."

"That's Troy's chair," Sharpay said.

"Oh you again," he said acknowledging Sharpay.

"I'll be right back," Ms. Darbus said. Once she left, Devon sat next to Gabriella.

"You're pretty," he said. She turned to him. "Why is your face all scratched up?"

She gasped when she saw him, making Taylor look up from her work. "Gabriella, what- oh my...who are you?"

"Devon." He pointed to Gabriella. "Who is this?"

"Off limits," Sharpay answered standing up and walking to Gabriella. "Are you okay?"

"Jeez, it's hard to fit in around here," he said. When no one noticed he said anything he walked to Troy's old chair and sat down.

"Get out," Chad said.

"What, this guy is dead right? You have to get over it, what was he a god?" He laughed at his own joke.

When the door opened, Devon jumped out of the chair. Ms. Darbus pointed to the desk, Devon slowly walked over to it and sat down, staring curiously at Chad.

_**And I'm sure the view from Heaven**_  
_**Beats the hell out of mine here**_  
_**And if we all believe in Heaven**_  
_**Maybe we'll make it through**_  
_**One more year, down here**_

Chad stared at the painting in the hall. Troy's picture was the biggest, like it should have been. He sighed and touched the basketball Troy was holding. From behind his back, he took paint that was the same color as the wall and a paint brush.

"I'm sorry Troy, but I can't handle this."

He painted over the Troy's face first. Then the ball. Finally the wall looked as if there had never been a picture.

Chad walked away, leaving the paint behind. From out of a locker, Devon jumped out and looked at the wall, shaking his head.

_**I hope that all is well in Heaven**_  
_**Cause it's all shot to hell down here**_  
_**I hope that I find you in Heaven**_  
_**Cause I'm so lost without you down here**_

Chad was walking home when he saw Devon looking at the Bolton's house. "Devon," he sneered. "What are you doing?"

Devon looked and smiled. "This was my old house."

Chad's face softened. "How? Troy's lived there ever since he was one, when Coach Bolton got the job at East High. How could you have lived there?"

"You don't miss a thing do you Chad? I thought you were going to blow my cover the first time you saw me."

"Huh?"

"When you kept yelling Troy. If everyone found out it was me then I'd have to leave."

Chad's eyes widened. "This is some cruel joke isn't it! If you're Troy, tell me something only he would know!"

"You told me to come visit. Are you accusing me of something?"

"Troy?"

Devon put a finger to his mouth. "If people find out Devon's Troy, I'll have to go back."

Chad walked over to Devon and was about to hug him, when he put a hand up. "No Chad. If you touch me I'll have to go back. Sharpay already almost sent me back when she slapped me."

"Why did you come?"

Devon looked at him. "No one was getting over my death, Zeke's the only one. Chad as much as I love having a special seat, you got to let people sit in it. But, I never did like that picture of me in the hallway, thanks for painting over it."

Chad smiled. "I miss you Troy."

"I know, but Chad I'm not going to be forgotten. I'll remind you in a dream if you do."

They laughed and Devon turned to go. "Troy!"

"What?"

"I never got to say it so, goodbye."

"Hey Chad, tell Gabriella I said goodbye too." He nodded. "Oh, and the view's better up in heaven."

_**You won't be coming back **_  
_**And I didn't get to say goodbye**_  
_**I really wish I got to say goodbye**_

"Where's Devon," Chad asked when he walked into school the next day.

"The weirdest thing, the guy moved. He's back to California, or at least that's what Matsui said," Jason told him. Chad looked out the window.

"Chad...Mr. Danforth. . . ."

Chad opened his eyes and found himself with his head on his desk. He looked up to see Ms. Darbus looking at him. "Mr. Danforth, I realize that last night's game must have been exciting and that that after party of yours was a blast, but please, don't drool on my desk!"  
He heard a familiar laugh and looked up to see Troy. "Devon?"

"Who," Troy asked. "Are you okay man?"

"Troy?"

"Bingo," Zeke said from behind him.

"Oh man, my head hurts."

Troy laughed again. "Where have you been, a fairy tale world?"

"I guess you could say that," Chad said.

"Do you remember anything?"

"Mr. Bolton, I would appreciate it if you would pay attention!"

Troy gave Chad a look before turning back to the front. Chad blinked once, wondering what had happened. When the bell rang, Chad and Troy walked out of the classroom together. "Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"I do remember something," Chad said. Troy looked interested and Chad smiled. He turned and over his shoulder yelled. "The view's better in heaven!"

**So, tell me what you think. I like constructed criticism.**

**Chad was in a dream when Troy was dead. As I wrote this I couldn't kill Troy, so I had him be alive.**

**Review!**


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